In brief: Motorcyclist injured, ticketed in crash
Spokane – Northwest MedStar airlifted a 49-year-old Spokane woman to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center following a motorcycle crash Sunday morning.
The Washington State Patrol reported that Kelly R. Fitzgerald drove her black Yamaha XVS650 off the road and hit a guardrail on State Route 25 near Springdale-Hunters Road in Stevens County.
She was wearing a helmet.
Troopers ticketed her for driving off the roadway and said in their report she was driving too fast and missed a curve in the road.
Rafter rescued at Barker bridge
Spokane County – County rescuers had to cut into the Barker Road Bridge to pluck a rafter from the swift Spokane River on Sunday afternoon.
The rescued woman had been floating the river when her raft became stuck on debris under the bridge, according to television station KHQ. The raft had flipped, and the woman had to hang onto the raft and debris as help was summoned. Her legs were submerged.
Fire crews cut a hole into the bridge – which is undergoing construction – to lower a rescuer and safety harness to the woman.
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office has said the river is cold and running fast, and has posted warning signs for boaters to stay clear of the bridge.
Schools report cases of suspected abuse
COEUR D’ALENE – There were 26 cases of suspected child abuse, abandonment or neglect in the Coeur d’Alene School District during the 2008-2009 school year.
Statewide, about 40 percent of all reported child abuse cases are reported by teachers and school counselors.
That makes public educators a critical link in protecting the safety of some of Idaho’s most vulnerable residents: its children.
“Teachers have opportunities to observe changes in behavior, absence patterns, and see injuries that might not be obvious to someone who sees them only sporadically,” said Tom Shanahan, a spokesman for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
Reported cases typically spike in September, when the school year begins.
Driver injured in car-train crash
Athol – A car and train collided Sunday south of Silverwood Theme Park.
The driver of the car suffered minor injuries. Details of the crash were not immediately available.
The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office was investigating but provided no information Sunday night.
According to the Idaho State Patrol, the accident happened where the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks cross East Brunner Road between Highway 95 and the Old Highway 95.
Smokejumpers undergo training
HUNGRY RIDGE, Idaho – The grunts of rookie smokejumpers scampering up trees and hiking miles with 100-pound packs have returned to north-central Idaho for the first time since 1978.
Cost cutting by the U.S. Forest Service prompted the federal agency to hold some regional training classes at a smokejumper base near Grangeville.
Candidates ranging from 120 to 200 pounds – all experienced wildland firefighters – complete 15 practice jumps from an airplane, among other things.
About 200 applicants in the northern Rocky Mountain region apply annually; only 10 positions are filled, with the starting salary at $14 per hour.
Kristina Pattison, 28, the only female participant, said, says, “There’s a lot of tradition behind this whole thing, and I’d be really proud to be able to work with these people.”